Strange Love
by fangirlamanda
Summary: "They know you walk like you're a god, they can't believe I made you weak…" A collection of Emron one-shots, most of which will be inspired by and named after song lyrics.
1. Would It Really Kill You If We Kissed?

Emily discreetly rolled her eyes and checked her watch for the eighth time in the past 30 minutes.

9:13, the hands read, causing her to groan internally.

She'd agreed to meet Aaron at one of the bars they usually went to after work for a few drinks, and Emily had regretfully decided to get there a few minutes early to loosen up ahead of time. Talking about non-work-related things with him still wasn't easy, and she knew she'd need those drinks to get through those conversations.

However, there weren't enough drinks in the world to numb her up enough to deal with the annoying guy that was sitting next to her. He'd been hitting on her from the moment she'd arrived, despite the fact that she'd clearly rejected his advances. She was resisting the urge to tell him to jump from the numbers in his bank account to his IQ after he began telling her about his newest luxury car and Rolex, but she couldn't afford to have him find out she worked in the White House and go blabbing to Politico about the whole thing.

All she wanted was for Aaron to show up and for the guy to get the wrong idea, and finally leave her alone.

She'd thought that her prayers had finally been answered when the guy spotted someone he knew from across the room and got up. Then things got even better when she saw Aaron walk in.

"Oh thank God, you're finally here," she sighed as he sat down next to her.

"What happened?"

"Some guy has been coming onto me for the past thirty minutes and I didn't know how much more of it I could take,"

"Does he happen to be blond and wear glasses?" he asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah, why?"

"He's currently making a beeline for you as we speak. Just play along and don't freak out," Aaron muttered, getting out of his seat and pulling her to her feet with him.

"Aaron, what-" she began before he cut her off. Aaron cupped her face in his hands and crashed his lips into hers.

Initially, Emily was frozen, having no clue what to do, but she quickly caught on and began kissing him back. It wasn't like she minded, at all, and the longer his lips were on hers, the more she was convinced that he wasn't faking it in the slightest. She was completely convinced that he was kissing her for-real when it lasted for nearly an entire minute, neither of them wanting to stop. Eventually, a need for air and the realization that they were still in public was what caused them to break apart.

"Convincing act, Shore," she whispered into his ear, still trying to catch her breath.

"I could say the same for you, Rhodes," he responded.

"What do you say we get out of here and I give you an even more convincing one?"

"I like the way you think," he smirked, pulling away and standing upright.

Emily quickly laid a 20 on the counter next to her empty glass before grabbing Aaron's hand and leading him out of the bar, the guy from earlier nowhere to be seen.

Luckily, Aaron's apartment was only three blocks away, so they didn't have far to go.

Emily tried to keep her mind from thinking too much on the way there, but she couldn't help it. For better or for worse, neither of their lives would be the same after tonight. They both knew that, and they were both willing to take the risk. Albeit, she was a bit scared, but everything that involved Aaron made her a bit nervous and now wasn't the time to think about that.

The longer they walked, the more her focus shifted to trying to keep her hands off him, and she could sense that he was feeling the same way. Somehow, they'd both managed to hold back until they reached his apartment, but once the door closed, any and all self-control they'd once had simply disappeared.

Neither said a single word before their lips collided once more. Emily immediately kicked her heels off before Aaron pulled her flush against him, backing into the wall behind him. He fumbled with the buttons of her blouse whilst she cursed herself for choosing to wear that shirt, and eventually, she pulled the rest of it off, not caring if the buttons popped off.

Emily's heart began to race with exhilaration. A year's worth of pent-up emotions and unresolved sexual tension had led up to this very moment, and she couldn't be more excited about it. Aaron's heartbeat and trembling hands matched hers, giving away that he felt the same. He began moving his lips from hers, across her jawline, down her neck, and to her collarbone. She tilted her neck, allowing him full access as he kissed the slight dip in her clavicle. Aaron began sucking on her pulse point, causing her heart to race from pure ecstasy and leaving a large purple mark. Emily could feel him smirk against her skin at his work, and she knew that it wouldn't be easy to cover up, but she wasn't thinking clearly enough to care.

Finally, after spending god knows how long tangled up in the entryway, Aaron picked her up and headed for the bedroom.

The next few hours were exactly as she'd imagined them…

Exhilarating.

By the time it was all said and done, she laid next to him, his arm still wrapped around her waist as they both tried to catch their breath.

Emily was in shock. The reality finally began to dawn on her. She was in bed with Aaron Shore, and she'd quite possibly just had the greatest experience of her life. Only a few hours ago, the possibility of this happening had been so far away that it was nothing but an aching wish in the bottom of her gut. But now, here she was, and she couldn't be any happier.

 _ **A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed! Sorry for being gone for so long, school is a killer. Also, shoutout to the bitch that stole this idea from me originally. Fuck you btw.**_


	2. I Didn't Mean To Fall In Love

Aaron Shore hadn't meant to fall in love with Emily Rhodes. He couldn't even pinpoint the exact moment he'd realized he loved her, it had sort of just _happened_. Just like the kiss in the bar the night before. He hadn't meant to kiss her the way he did. It was supposed to be just a quick "one and done" to get the other guy off her back, but as soon as his lips were on hers, he found it near impossible to stop. Nevertheless, it was 5 a.m and she was asleep on his chest. He hadn't meant for it to, but it had happened, and he didn't have a single regret.

Emily's eyed fluttered open just as the world outside the window began to lighten.

"Morning," she said groggily, reaching up and resting her hand on his jaw as she kissed him with a lazy grin.

"Morning," he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

"What time is it?"

"It's 5:30," Aaron muttered, kissing along her jaw.

"That's plenty of time," she responded, flipping them both over so she was on top of him.

 _Oh yeah, he had_ _ **zero**_ _regrets._

* * *

Emily walked into the White House that morning feeling almost like a new person. It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders the night before, and the longing regret she felt every time she saw Aaron was gone. Her first item of the day was the President's morning briefing, and she ended up running into Kendra on the way there.

"Morning," Emily smiled at the other woman.

"Morning. Someone seems brighter than usual today," Kendra said, an eyebrow raised in question and slight amusement.

 _Shit,_ Emily thought. Kendra was a lawyer, she read people like a book and could practically see right through their pages. She also knew that Emily had gone out for drinks with Aaron the night before since she'd been asking her for advice.

"I slept really well last night, so that's probably it," she said.

"Mhm," Kendra muttered, obviously not buying her story.

It made her nervous. Emily didn't want anyone finding out about it. She and Aaron had been together for less than 24 hours, and they hadn't even put a name on what they were yet. They _had_ to keep up appearances in front of everyone, but it wasn't going to be easy when all either of them wanted was the other's hands on them.

She walked with Kendra into the Oval, where Kirkman, Aaron, Lyor, Seth, and a few other Senior Staff members were. The briefing went, as usual, everyone telling the president what he needed to know for the day, and everything would have been fine had Aaron not been stealing glances at her the entire time. It was incredibly distracting, and she must've begun to look flustered because she could see him holding back a smirk. Keeping things professional with him was going to be harder than she thought, but Emily Rhodes had never been one to back down from a challenge.

Finally, the meeting ended, and she headed back to her office to do paperwork until her first meeting at 10. She was halfway through her stack of files when Aaron walked in.

"Hey, what's up?" she greeted, turning her attention from the file to him.

"I have that memo for you about the new TSA screening equipment installations. Oh, and I also got you this," he said, placing a cup of coffee on her desk.

"Gee, what gave it away?" she asked, taking a sip. Just because the giant weight was gone, it didn't mean her sleep deprivation was as well.

"Nothing, nothing, I just figured you'd be pretty tired after last night," he joked.

"Yeah, well, if I remember correctly, you're to blame for that," Emily said, standing up and taking the memo.

"Last time I checked, that was a two person job, and if _I_ remember correctly, you were-" he said before Emily cut him off.

"Kendra, hey," she said as the woman walked in. "What's up?"

"I just needed to get some files for an appeal conference later today, but I can come back later if-"

"No, it's fine. I was just leaving," Aaron explained, winking at Emily before turning on his heel.

"Oh, Aaron, remember we have that meeting with Senate leadership today at noon," she called after him.

"Can't wait," he replied with a joking grin.

Kendra closed the door behind him and leaned her back against it, earning a puzzled look from Emily.

"You slept with him," she stated in a matter-of-factly tone with an all-knowing grin on her face.

"What?" she nearly yelped, more surprised by Kendra's straightforwardness than anything else.

"You hooked up with Aaron last night, didn't you?"

Emily groaned loudly and buried her face in her hands. There was no way she was going to be able to lie to Kendra, she was too good at reading people.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed loudly, before being shushed by Emily. "Sorry,"

"You can't tell anyone, Kendra," she demanded. "I mean it. Not even by accident,"

As much as she loved Kendra, she was awful at keeping secrets, and that's what scared Emily.

"I won't, don't worry. Am I the only one who knows?"

"Yeah,"

"Not even Seth?"

"No, and I _really_ don't need him finding out. He's a terrible liar and if the press asks him anything about it, we'll be screwed."

"I can't disagree with you there"

* * *

It was almost midnight when they finally finished up work. There hadn't been a national emergency, which meant they had to deal with all of the technical stuff they'd put to the side during times of crises. Still, it was incredibly tedious and had left both she and Aaron exhausted.

Emily was taking a break from everything and sat on the arm of her couch, not really watching the TV because her mind was elsewhere. She was snapped out her daze by a faint knocking on the doorframe. Aaron.

"Hey," she greeted quietly as he shut the door behind him.

"Hey, I just wanted to check on you. I haven't seen you since the meeting," he replied, taking a seat next to her.

"Yeah, I've just been finishing up all the paperwork that I've been putting off. I'm just about done here though. What about you?"

"Same here."

"Well, national crisis or not, today has been exhausting," Emily sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Aaron leaned down and rested his cheek against her forehead.

"Remember the last time we sat here?" he asked.

They both quietly laughed, remembering that night. Half drunk and high on the atmosphere of the MacLeish confirmation. Neither could remember who made the move on who, but neither party had any regrets.

"Damn, if these walls could talk,"

"They'd tell a lot of stories."

"Not all of them had happy, endings," Emily sighed.

"That's true," Aaron paused before reaching over and gently taking her hand in his. "But I know one that did,"

 _ **A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all the positive feedback and reviews on the last chapter! I really hope you liked this one just as much. If anyone has any requests for future chapters, feel free to request them on here or over on my tumblr: designatedtrash.**_


	3. I'm Only Human

Aaron walked into his office and shut the door behind him. He strode over to his desk and leaned against it, tossing his head back and closing his eyes with a sigh. It was only 10 a.m and it had already been a long day.

There was a certain weight that came with working in public service. A constant burden to always do what's best for the people you serve and the heavy guilt that came with failing them. That feeling was only magnified when you worked in a place like the White House, not to mention when you were one of the most powerful people there. Every member of President Kirkman's Senior Staff knew that feeling all too well, but none were feeling it more that day than Aaron Shore.

He was so torn. The Mexican border situation affected him on both ends, and he was left to make decisions that he never wanted to make. His head told him that the American people were his first and only priority and that he should do what was best for them, but his heart and his conscience was telling him that he had to think of his family on the other side as well. He was trying to remain neutral in order to avoid choosing sides, but _everyone_ was expecting him to pick one.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Emily walking into his office.

"Hey, is everything okay?" he asked, noticing the concerned and slightly puzzled look on her face.

"I don't know, you tell me," she replied.

"Do you ever feel like you can't make anyone happy?" he blurted, not having enough energy to hide what was on his mind from her.

"Is this about the border dispute?" Emily asked with that all-knowing look of hers.

"Yeah," Aaron sighed. "I mean, it seems like everyone feels as if I'm not doing enough for their side, but the only side I'm on is the President's."

Emily nodded, just listening to him.

"Even then, I still don't think I'm doing things right,"

"Hey," she said, walking up to him and taking his hand in hers. "You are trying the best you can right now for both sides, and you have the good of the people at heart."

"Well you know what they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions," he sighed, looking around.

"Aaron," Emily demanded, drawing his attention back to her. "We will figure this out just like we always do, okay? We've been through far worse and we're still here. It'll be alright,"

"I suppose you're right,"

"Good, and besides, you make me _really_ happy," she said with a shy smile, letting her hands rest at the nape of his neck.

He dipped his head and leaned down, kissing her sweetly. His day had been complete shit so far, but she always knew how to make it better.

* * *

Aaron was sure that after the morning he'd had, today couldn't get any worse. But it could, and it had, and it was entirely his fault. He'd just _had_ to go and open his mouth about Nadia to the senator, and now she probably hated him. Aaron almost instinctively reached into his pocket for his phone to call his sister Daniela but resisted the urge. He was sure she would know what to do, she always did, but he didn't need to drag her into this mess. Instead, he decided to go to the only other person he could think of. _Emily_.

He knocked on the door of her office before walking in.

"Hey," she greeted him brightly, abandoning whatever she was working on. Before he could even say anything, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

"I was wondering where you were," she grinned after pulling away. Aaron made an attempt at a smile, but it was clearly fake. "I haven't seen you since you left for your meeting with Senator Flores," her voice trailed off.

"Is everything okay?'

Aaron sighed and shook his head, not making eye contact. Emily's arms dropped to her sides as he walked over and leaned against the table.

"What happened?"

"You know how I told you that the senator sent Nadia to our meeting?"

"Aaron," Emily groaned. "You didn't,"

"Yep," he sighed, running his hands over his face.

"What did Nadia say when she found out?"

"She yelled at me, a lot, which I completely deserved. She said that it hadn't been the senator's idea for her to meet with me, it had been hers. Then she accused me of forgetting my roots,"

"Was she right?"

"Yeah," Aaron chuckled sadly, the guilt threatening to overwhelm him. "I haven't been home in almost two years. The last time I saw my parents was a few weeks before the bombing, I haven't seen two of my sisters in over a year, and the other I haven't seen since she graduated high school. Nadia was absolutely right,"

"Well, what you did was incredibly stupid, but it's not too late to fix things. You should go see her,"

"I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to show my face in front of Nadia or anyone else for a while," he groaned.

"Just apologize, I'm sure she'll understand if you explain it to her. Look, Aaron, you're only human, you make mistakes. And in your defense, nearly the entire government was wiped out in one night, and it changed everyone's lives forever. I think that's a decent reason for not having been home for a while."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm going to go try to fix things with Nadia,"

"Want to come over to my place after you're done?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Of course," he grinned in return, pulling her to him by her waist and kissing her. In that moment he pondered something. He might only be human, but _Emily Rhodes was undoubtedly an_ _angel._

 _ **A/N: Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks once again for all of the great reviews! I'd also like to thank tries-forever for helping me break my writer's block for this chapter! Sorry for having it up a day late, I was going non-stop yesterday and plus my wifi was down. Thanks for reading!**_


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